Thousands taken in raid

Apr 22 2008 by Chris Robinson, The Journal

THIEVES burgled a North East building society before blocking plugholes and flooding the branch. The dawn raid happened at the Newcastle Building Society, Low Fell, Gateshead, where several thousands of pounds were stolen.

After forcing a door open, the thieves cut their way into the safe, possibly with a power saw, at the branch in Durham Road.

The raid happened some time between 4.30am and 8am on Sunday, police said yesterday.

The raiders then put plugs in a sink in the rear office of the building and switched on the taps and flooded the floor.

Last night bosses at Newcastle Building Society reassured customers that there had been no breach of data security and that deposits were safe.

The branch remained closed yesterday as staff assessed the damage, and it is thought it will be unlikely to reopen until later this week.

Police investigating the robbery are now carrying out an investigation into the raid and are studying CCTV images from around the area.

Witnesses are being urged to come forward in a bid to help catch those responsible.

Last night a spokesperson for Newcastle Building Society said staff were liaising with police as part of the investigation.

She added that those responsible had possibly been watching the branch leading up to the raid.

The spokesperson said: “We want to reassure our customers that there has been no breach of data security and no access of the IT system. This appears to be a professional robbery which has been targeted at cash and a substantial amount of cash has been taken.

“All customers’ data and deposits remain unaffected.

“It may all look well from the front, but the back office is in quite a severe state.

“There was also quite a lot of ash where they cut open the safe.

“It is too early to tell how much damage has been caused, but it is more of a case of a clean-up rather than repair so far.”

Anyone with information should contact Gateshead police on 03456 043 043.